One of the world’s most widely-acclaimed anthropologists will be presenting this year’s Frazer lecture on Friday (October 31), examining the relevance and role of anthropology in modern society.

Professor Paul Rabinow will be giving the Frazer Memorial Lecture in social anthropology – an annual presentation which is rotated between the Universities of Cambridge, Glasgow, Liverpool and Oxford. His talk will be entitled “On ֱ̽Anthropology Of ֱ̽Contemporary”.

Professor Rabinow has taught at the ֱ̽ of California, Berkeley, since 1978. He has a wide-ranging and distinctive view of anthropology, which takes into account history, sociology, philosophy and the anthropology of science. His work has given fellow anthropologists the tools necessary to bring their discipline to bear on areas such as art, new media, life sciences and security.

ֱ̽Frazer lectures are named after Sir James George Frazer, one of the key founders of modern anthropology who studied at Cambridge and was a Fellow of Trinity College. Frazer wrote widely on many issues and though his work is no longer regarded as part of contemporary anthropology, he broke new ground in showing how far the anthropologist’s reach could be. His work gave inspiration to some of the best-known writers and thinkers of the 20th century; among them DH Lawrence, TS Eliot and Sigmund Freud.

Previous Frazer lecturers include Dame Marilyn Strathern, Sir Jack Goody, Professors Alan Macfarlane and Ernest Gellner and Sir Edmund Leach.
Professor Rabinow has been awarded many prestigious fellowships and awards throughout his career and his numerous books have subsequently been translated into many languages.

“On the anthropology of the contemporary” will be held on October 31 in Lecture Room 3, Mill Lane Lecture Rooms. ֱ̽talk will run from 5pm to 6pm.

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